Ninkasi Brewing Company - Maiden The Shade

Welcome back everyone! Been a couple weeks since I blogged about beer so I figured tonight I'd change that. I'm drinking a beer tonight that I only bought because the font on the label is that of Iron Maiden, one of my favorite bands. Nothing wrong with that, right? I didn't think so.

So what am I drinking? Well, if you skipped the blog title, I'm drinking a special release from Ninkasi. I'm drinking their Maiden The Shade. This is a 6.8% abv "Specialty Ale" which from what I can gather, is really just an American IPA. I'm cool with that. Who doesn't love a good IPA? So without further distractions, let's get this one poured and I'll try to make sense and give you my thoughts on Maiden The Shade.

Maiden pours out a really striking golden color. Very radiant gold. This one is pretty hazy, can't really see through the glass. There's about a half finger of a bright white head with a lot of tiny white bubbles. The head doesn't stick around very long but leaves behind a fairly decent lacing. There's a bit of sediment in the glass which is no doubt adding to the haze factor we've got going on. Overall, this is a really nice looking beer. Let's get the nose.

First thing I get is some ripe peach, ripe mango like fruits. There's a sweetness here that I wouldn't normally expect from an IPA. Reminds me a lot of honey actually. It definitely cuts the bitter hope aroma you'd usually pick up from an American IPA. There's a little bit of a floral bitterness coming through but this beer is dominated by those peaches, the mango and definitely what I can only describe as honey. Very sweet smelling, not very bitter on the nose. This has me intrigued. Let's see how the Maiden tastes.

Right away, you get the IPA bitterness that's pretty much a guarantee in an American IPA. That carries across the palate from start to finish paving the way for that sweetness I got on the nose. Honey sweetness and some very trace amounts of peach. Sides of the palate you get some subtle sweetness, more of the peach. I get zero citrus on this beer. They used 7 different hops in this but nothing stands out in the way of hops. Just a big blast of bitterness. Maybe Cascade, sorta reminiscent of Sierra Nevada. Maiden finishes really dry leaving a lot of that hop bitterness lingering in it's wake. Sort of destroying anything else that I'd hope was going on.

So overall, Maiden The Shade isn't bad but I don't think it's anything incredible. I would have liked to get something else besides just hop bitterness here. While the beer smells pretty nice and looks amazing, the flavors on this just do nothing for me because really, they're not there for the most part. I think this could be good, maybe more fresh than what I"m drinking. Not sure on the age of this one. It's worth a shot to check out. I know a lot of hop heads would genuinely enjoy this. I'm just left wanting more.

Rating: C+

Ninkasi Brewing Company - Sleigh'r

Hey everyone! Been a long time since I posted a beer blog. Hell, it's been over a month! Quite a bit has gone on. Been real sick for all of November. Still not out of the woods. Also, just haven't been in the mood to blog. Kind of how things go I guess. The "need" to post a blog... sort of kills things sometimes.

But fear not, I'm back tonight with my November BOTM. That's right, I haven't forgotten about this. Tonight I'm drinking the winter seasonal from Ninkasi Brewing Company. Yep, I'm drinking Sleigh'r! Clearly a take on the band SLAYER (one of my personal favorites) and Santa's Sleigh.

This is a 7.2% Dark Double Alt Ale which I think pretty much means, winter warmer. I've been into these quite a bit this winter so I'm looking forward to this one. Hell, I've had it for a month now and just haven't had a chance to crack it open. So without any further delay, let's pop the top and I'll give you my thoughts on SLEIGH'R!!!

The Sleigh'r pours out a really dark mahogany to ruby red when held up to the light. Really nice color on this one. There's about a half finger of a frothy white head, probably not really white but it's not brown or even beige. The head doesn't stick around long, much like Santa... eating his cookies and vanishing. Son of a bitch... oh, sorry. Got side-tracked. This beer looks pretty nice. Let's get the nose.

I'm immediately hit with some winter spices. Nutmeg, a little bit of cinnamon, a little clove, maybe even a hint of coriander. Some sweet caramel and maybe the slightest touch of molasses.  There's some dark fruits here, namely some cherry, even a bit of an apple character. Those are playing off the nutmeg and clove pretty nicely. I'm picking up a bit of banana as well. Maybe a subtle hint of banana bread. This definitely has some hints of sugar cookie. Again, something Santa would definitely enjoy... if he wasn't skipping over my house... ugh, I did it again. Sorry. Sleigh'r smells pretty good, maybe a little more subtle than some of the other winter warmers I've had recently.

Interesting flavors up front on this one. I'm picking up a lot of the cherry and dark fruits, the hint of apple right up front. Sides of the mouth you get the sweetness from the caramel and the richness of the molasses. Middle of the mouth and back end of this beer you get the spices but they are very subtle. You get a nice smack of pine/spruce that I wasn't really getting on the nose. This beer finishes pretty dry and the pine lingers for a while. There's some of the nutmeg and coriander dancing around in the back as well. I'm picking up some alcohol as well, a bit of a rum perhaps. It's not overpowering but I'm definitely picking it up.

So overall, this is pretty good. For a winter type of beer I think it hits all the right notes that one would expect from a winter ale but nothing really jumps out and grabs you. I'd say it's a bit more balanced than a lot of the winter warmers that end up being pine bombs. I like those a lot too. I think this could use a little more malt sweetness, maybe some caramel to sort of cut the back end of this to cut the bitterness. But besides that, I like this and I'd say it's worth checking out, if only for the name along. Come on, SLEIGH'R!!!

Rating: B+